We
have grown soft and accustomed to
cleanliness, proper hygiene, and the lack of
disease as some sort of "right." Our modern
world is safe due to the well-oiled machinery
of sanitation: clean water, regular refuse
collection and proper disposal, automated
sewerage treatment facilities, and relatively
well functioning medical facilities. In the
breakdown of any civilized society, diseases
now common to third world countries spring up
is if by magic.

Remember your history lessons of how all
immigration used to be strictly controlled,
and all immigrants were quarantined for a
period of time before being allowed into the
country? That was to control the spread of
infectious diseases! Our own government will
not define (close) our borders and control
illegal immigration. Our "country" now has
open borders, with thousands of foreigners
sneaking in daily from third world countries
-- and many are carriers of typhus and
cholera, among other diseases. Perhaps we are
not really a "country" at all now, as by
definition a "country" must define its
borders and its citizens -- those who belong
and those who do not. For decades the Vatican
refused to recognize Israel as a country
simply because Israel would not define its
borders. Throughout history, great societies
have always risen -- and fallen. We are
witnessing the end of our Pax Romana, or
should I say Pax Americana. Goodbye
civilization. Hello anarchy and all the chaos
it brings.

During troubled times you cannot depend
upon others to be there and take care of you
and your family. You must be prepared to do
it yourself. And prepare we must, as our
infrastructure is incredibly fragile
and targeted by
terrorists.

Being
prepared means having some basic medical
equipment and first aid supplies, available
easily and inexpensively through Internet
sources and even local retail stores. Taking
a CPR course, even an emergency medical
technician course, is only prudent. Good
medical literature is available for advanced
first aid, but much is far too
simplified...."Get the patient to a doctor,
fast." That advice is virtually
worthless, as there may be no doctor, and no
"getting" anyplace! Fortunately, there are
medical books available for sailors and other
adventurers which contain very clear and
detailed information for help when no
physician is available. I ve had a copy of
"Advanced First Aid Afloat" by Dr. Peter F.
Eastman, MD, for over 20 years, and value it
highly. It was available from Cornell
Maritime Press, Centreville, Maryland, ISBN #
0-87033-169-8. My copy was $6.00, but I'm
sure the cost is considerably more now.
Nevertheless, I bought a bound copy of
Survival and Austere Medicine (below), even
though I have the .pdf version on my
computer.

This entire
EndTimesReport.com web site is now
available on CD for when the Internet
fails or the power grid goes down. in
HTML format, for $13.95 plus
postage.

Being
prepared also means having some medicines on
hand, and the knowledge of how they are used.
People in need can always resort to
home
remedies which have been used for
years with decent results: knowledge
and supplies are both desirable.
There is a method of
disinfecting exposed surfacesthat
you can do at home.

Part of being prepared for medical
emergencies is simply thinking
ahead. For example, in really
hard times people will be out cutting firewood,
perhaps even building log structures.
They are going to get cut or at the very
least get splinters in various parts of
their anatomy. One trick which has
been used is regular super glue. A dab of
super glue on a splinter will dry to the
splinter, and then tweezers can pull it
out. But what about a thin slice on
a leg or arm? I'm not talking about
a deep cut, but rather a shallow slice
that leave a large flap of skin that is
slow to heal. These happen often and can
be debilitating, even life threatening if
the person has to walk to an evacuation
area, or just be able to continue
working. First, the wound can be
thoroughly cleansed by flushing with
oxygen peroxide. Once the bleeding
has stopped, the wound can be lightly
packed with Nolvasan Antiseptic
Ointment. Then the edges of the
cut are carefully cleaned and flap of
skin super glued in place. The
entire area must then be wrapped with an
Ace bandage and must be checked for
abscesses periodically, but the person
can at least be mobile again instead of
being a liability on a whole family
group.

Another example of thinking ahead and
being prepared is for eye injuries.
Eyes are very delicate! In very
difficult times, people will be doing
hard work, sometimes under expedient
conditions. Debris can get into
eyes, and eyes can be burned. The
treatment required is mentioned in the
articles linked below, but bears
repeating. Do not rub injured
eyes! Eyes should be flushed with
copious quantities clear water or a
saline solution to flush out any debris
or chemicals that can cause burns.
"Flushing" means more than a slow dribble
of water! A squirt from an eye
dropper is barely adequate.
Actually, turkey basters work very well,
as they hold a lot more water but do not
produce too much water pressure.
Metal slivers from striking metal tools
or welding can become stuck in an eye and
not be flushed out with water. A
small, powerful magnet, such as a pencil
type stud finder, can be very carefully
moved 1/2" over the eye while holding the
eyelids up, and ferrous metal particles
will spring up to the magnet. But
the eye will still be injured, and eye
injuries are extremely painful, so
treatment is needed. Prilocaine, or
Neomycin eye drops, will help the eye
heal very quickly, and also lessen the
pain considerably, but those antibiotics
are prescription items and must be on
hand. Farm animals are always
scratching their eyes, and ranchers often
treat those eye injuries using "NFZ
Puffer," a veterinary medicine 0.2%
Nitrofurazome. Some ranchers use it
on human eye injuries as well (heeding
the advise on the label that some people
are hypersensitive to this medication)
when a physician is not available and
losing an eye could well result from no
antibiotic treatment at all. If
there is an irritant reaction, flushing
the eyes with copious quantities of water
will quickly dilute the Nitrofurazome, as
it is water soluble. Then, of
course, the eye should be covered with a
patch so there will be no incentive to
move the eye and continue any
irritation. The treatments
mentioned above are repeated daily until
the eye is healed.

I
sometimes have the feeling that honest,
tax paying, God fearing citizens have
their heads in the sand when it comes to
emergency medical preparedness, like they
just don t "get it." Heck, even the
radical left gives medical
advice for protesters, but the
common person is left out in the
cold.

The new H5N1
avian virus spreading around the
world now, in June, 2005 March, could
well prove to be a roaring pandemic by
the winter of 2005, killing millions of
people worldwide. There is reportedly a
news blackout on this avian flu in the US
media, but reliable reports are that 121
of the 200 people in China who contracted
this flu have died - it is extremely
lethal! Large areas of China are
quarantined in a vain attempt to keep
this avian flue from spreading.
Being a new strain of flu, no one has
immunity. The Bush administration
has issued an Executive Order for the
quarantine of
civilians when the H5N1 avian flu
reaches the United
States.

Get prepared! It could save your life
in the not too distant future. You will
be on your own.